“She could have a spinal injury, moving could paralyze her,” he warned.
Hollywood grit his teeth in frustration. He landed in the dirt at her side and his hands hovered over her.
A commotion took his attention away from Kassie, and he had only a second to compute what it was and take action. Karina had tried to throw herself at her sister as she wailed in despair. Hollywood caught her and whirled her around so she didn’t hurt Kassie more than she already was.
He vaguely heard Fletch calling for the chopper to move in and to put the hospital on standby. Coach was then speaking, telling Ghost and the others that Karina had said a buyer for both of them was supposed to be on his way and they needed to stay vigilant.
Beatle and Blade appeared in the small hut and knelt down next to Kassie. They began to assess her injuries. Hollywood wanted to be the one caring for her, but at the moment, Karina needed him.
He pulled back and took a quick look at Karina. She had some cuts on her arms, and a few on her legs, most likely from diving out the window, but they were superficial. He hugged her again, and she snuggled into him as if she’d known him her entire life.
“Shhhh. We’re here. You’re okay,” he told her, keeping his eyes on his teammates and the woman who meant the world to him.
“She told me to,” Karina said between sobs. “She put herself between me and him. He was kicking and hurting her and she still was only thinking about me.”
“Are you surprised?” Hollywood asked. “She loves you. So much.”
Karina didn’t respond, except to sob harder.
“I’m sorry, man,” Blade said softly, looking at Hollywood. “It doesn’t look good.”
“What?” Hollywood asked, not understanding what his friend was saying.
“She’s lost a lot of blood. Too much. She has a pulse but it’s weak, and her hands are ice cold.”
Hollywood turned to Coach and practically shoved Karina at him. He was gentle about it, but he needed to get to Kassie. There was no way she was dying. She couldn’t. He couldn’t have been too late.
Without waiting to make sure Karina was okay, Hollywood turned to Kassie. He picked up her hand and found that Blade wasn’t lying. He was sweating with the heat in the small hut, but Kassie’s hands were like ice.
Blocking out the murmurings from Blade saying how sorry he was, Hollywood reached out a shaking hand and put it to Kassie’s neck. He had to swallow back the bile lodged at the back of his throat before he could speak. “She’s okay,” he told Blade.
“Hollywood, I know you want to believe that but—”
“Her hands are always cold, Blade,” Hollywood told him. “Always. I don’t know why. Maybe bad circulation or something, but that’s normal for her.” He turned his head and looked Blade in the eyes. “Her pulse might be weak, but she’s going to be okay. I know it.”
As Hollywood put both hands around one of Kassie’s cold ones, Blade picked up her free hand and tried to warm it, just as Hollywood was doing with the other. “Sorry man,” he said. “I just couldn’t imagine why else she was so cold when it’s absolutely not chilly in here in the least.”
“It’s okay,” Hollywood assured him quietly. “You can get her a pair of gloves for Christmas.”
“It’s on my list,” Blade told his friend with a smile. But it quickly faded when he said, “But she is bleeding way too fucking much. We need to turn her over and see what that asshole did to her.”
Hollywood nodded, and helped Blade turn Kassie to her side as Beatle held her neck still. Both men swore at the gaping holes in Kassie’s T-shirt and the amount of blood pooled under her.
“Is she okay?” Karina asked from across the room.
Without taking his eyes from the woman he loved more than anything in the world, Hollywood said firmly, “She’s going to be fine, Karina.”
“But there’s so much blood,” the other woman insisted.
“She’s strong. There’s no way she went through what she did to give in now. Right, Kass?”
After they’d turned Kassie so she was lying on her stomach, Hollywood leaned down and spoke directly in her ear as Blade took out one of his ever-present knives and sliced up the back of Kassie’s T-shirt so they could see what they were dealing with.
“You kicked his ass, didn’t you?” he asked, keeping one of her hands in his own while his other lay lightly on the back of her neck. “You did what you had to do, got Karina out of here while you stayed back to make sure that asshole wouldn’t be a threat ever again.”
He glanced over at Blake who was lying motionless feet away, and noticed the blood coming from his eye. Trying to avoid looking at her back, Hollywood leaned in once more and said, “You nailed him in the eye, didn’t you? Good job. I’m proud of you, sweetheart. I—”
“Chopper’s sixty seconds out,” Ghost informed them all through the headphones. “Hollywood, you and Karina with Blade and Kassie. The rest of us’ll stay here. We’ll wait and see if anyone shows up for a meet, and take out that garbage as well.”
Hollywood nodded, not taking his eyes from Kassie’s face. He wanted to see some sign that she was in there. That she was fighting to come back to him.
“Two stab wounds. One looks like it punched a hole in her lung. The other looks too high to have hit anything vital, but I can’t be sure,” Blade informed them all.
Hollywood heard Ghost relaying the information to the medics in the chopper, but couldn’t take his eyes away from the obscene tears in Kassie’s flesh.
He’d promised to keep her safe, and look at her. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had to get his emotions under control. He wouldn’t do Kassie any good right now if he lost it.
“It’ll be easier to just bundle her up and let the guys in the chopper deal with this,” Blade said, even as he began to pull Kassie’s T-shirt back up and over her wounds.
Hollywood felt like he was once again in a long tunnel. Everything around him was muted and he only partially heard them. All his focus was on Kassie. He stepped back, letting Blade, Beatle, and Truck pick her up, wincing when she moaned at the movement. He kept his hand on the back of her head as they walked out of the hut toward the chopper, which had landed a short distance away.
The dust was thick but Hollywood didn’t even bother to try to protect his mouth. He walked crouched over, doing whatever he could to protect Kassie instead. He climbed into the helicopter and helped his teammates ease Kassie inside. The two medics in the chopper took over then, and Hollywood moved to Kassie’s head once again. Blade helped Karina up and into the space and followed behind her. The teenager crab-walked over to Hollywood and her sister and snuggled into his side.
Hollywood put one arm around Karina and laid the other on the back of Kassie’s head as the medics did their thing. He felt the chopper rise into the air and vaguely noted Truck asking Beatle through the headset if he thought Kassie was going to make it.
His answer made Hollywood smile for the first time in hours.
“Fuck yeah, she’s going to make it. She’s one of us. Made of fucking steel.”
Chapter 20
Hollywood sat with one arm around Karina in the waiting room at a hospital in San Antonio. He had no idea which hospital, but it didn’t matter. Kassie was in surgery. Blade had been right. One of the knife wounds had punctured a lung, and the other, while ugly, hadn’t hit any vital organs. Blake had missed her heart by merely an inch. It tore through some muscle and would be painful, but wasn’t life threatening.
Hollywood had asked the doctors to check to see if Kassie had been raped as well. Karina had insisted that Blake hadn’t touched her, but Kassie had been with him for a long time as he’d driven down to Laredo. He could’ve stopped and assaulted her along the way. Hollywood wanted the doctors to do their exam while she was unconscious and wouldn’t remember it. There was no way he wanted to add more trauma to Kassie’s plate if he could help it.
The doctors said as soon as they had the rest of
her injuries under control, they’d do a thorough physical exam to make sure she didn’t have any other issues to worry about…including determining if she’d been sexually assaulted.
At first it’d only been the three of them in the waiting room, Hollywood, Blade, and Karina. Then Rock had arrived with two other men. Then slowly but steadily, more and more people filled the room. The staff had finally relented and shown the growing group into a small conference room.
Before he knew it, there were almost two dozen people waiting to see how Kassie was doing.
“Who are all these people?” Karina whispered to Hollywood at one point after they’d said hello to everyone in subdued tones. They’d come over to say a few words to them and let them know they were praying for Kassie, but Hollywood didn’t know who most of them were.
Rock overheard her question and answered, “These are some of the finest people I’ve ever known. Over there,” he indicated to one side of the room with his chin, “are my friends from law enforcement. Daxton, Quint, Cruz, Wes, Hayden, Conor, and Calder. The redheaded female is a cop, Hayden, but the other women are girlfriends.”
He turned to indicate the other side of the room. “And these are also my friends. They’re firefighters. Sledge, Crash, Chief, Squirrel, Taco, Driftwood, Moose, and Tiger. Sledge’s girlfriend isn’t here, but Crash’s is…the woman with the dog is Adeline.”
“Beth’s not here?” Hollywood asked. “Why? Is something else going on?”
Rock quickly shook his head. “No. She’s agoraphobic…well, she was. She’s working on it, but from what Sledge told me, she felt more comfortable sticking near her laptop and following the action from there, and relaying information to Tex.”
Hollywood felt Karina sag against him and tightened his hold on her. “You doing okay?” he asked, even though he knew the answer. He had a hunch she was feeling much the same as he was. Overwhelmed, tired, impatient—and terrified that the doctor would enter the room and tell them Kassie hadn’t made it.
He didn’t know how much time had passed since she’d been taken to surgery, but it seemed like forever.
Just when Hollywood didn’t think the room could get any more crowded, the door opened and Karina’s parents entered, followed by Fish.
Karina leaped from the chair she’d been sitting on and ran to her mom and dad. They huddled in the doorway for a long moment before Fish took hold of Donna’s elbow and steered the group to a set of chairs nearby.
Hollywood got up and went over to talk to them. He shook Fish’s hand. “Thanks for bringing them down.”
“I’m sorry,” Fish said, not quite meeting Hollywood’s eyes.
Hollywood gripped the other man’s hand hard, not letting him drop it. He waited until Fish looked at him. “Nothin’ to be sorry about, Fish.”
“I should’a stayed and made sure Karina got home all right.”
“No. You had no reason to suspect anything. Dean was neutralized and we thought the threat was over.”
“Still—”
“Fish, no,” Hollywood told him fiercely. “This is not your fault.”
The two men looked at each other for a long moment before Fish finally nodded. Hollywood dropped his hand and looked to Kassie’s parents. “She’s still in surgery. We don’t know a lot, but I have no doubt she’s going to be fine. She’s a fighter.”
“You shoulda seen her, Dad,” Karina said in a wobbly voice. “From the second she entered the hut where Blake had stashed me, she took charge. S-she didn’t waste any time in getting me untied and finding a w-way for me to get out.”
Jim Anderson ran his hand over his daughter’s hair and kissed her temple. “I bet she was a sight to see.”
Karina nodded and laid her head back on her dad’s shoulder.
“Thanks for calling us, son,” Jim Anderson told Hollywood. “We got the text that was supposed to be from Karina, but could both tell something was up. First, she wouldn’t stay out all night, no way, and second, it didn’t even sound like her. On one hand, your call didn’t stop us from worrying, but on the other, at least we knew we weren’t crazy and that you were doing all you could to find her. Have you heard anything new about Kassie’s condition?”
Hollywood opened his mouth to tell the man who was still holding his youngest daughter tightly what he knew, but they were interrupted by a doctor standing in the doorway.
“Kassie Anderson’s friends and family, I presume?” At the affirmative responses, the doctor quickly said, “She’s going to be fine. The surgery went well. We repaired her punctured lung and stitched up both wounds on her back. She’s going to be uncomfortable and she’ll need to stay in the hospital for a while to make sure there aren’t any complications.
“It looks like she took quite a beating. She’s got a bruised kidney, a couple cracked ribs, and several large bruises on her back and thighs.” He turned and looked directly at Hollywood, letting him know without coming right out and saying it that she hadn’t been raped. “We didn’t find any other serious injuries. While she’s going to be in pain for several weeks, she’s a very lucky woman.”
Hollywood closed his eyes in relief. Her injuries were horrific, but at least she didn’t have to add the mental anguish of being violated on top of everything else. He had no doubt she’d need to speak with someone about what she’d gone through…being kidnapped and almost dying would do that to a person, but he could help her deal with some of that.
“Can we see her?” Donna asked anxiously.
“She’s in ICU right now,” the doctor told them. “But I’ll authorize two ten-minute visitations. But a maximum of two people at a time,” he cautioned. “She’s not going to be awake, so the best thing you can all do is go home and get some sleep. If she does well tonight, I’ll see about moving her to a regular room tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” Kassie’s mom breathed. “Can we go now?”
Hollywood wanted to protest. Wanted to insist he be the one allowed to see her, but he needed to step back and let her family reassure themselves that their daughter was going to be all right.
“Yes, if you’ll follow me,” the doctor told her, and turned back to the door.
Surprisingly, Donna touched Hollywood on the arm. “We’ll be fast so you can get in there,” she said in a soft voice.
Hollywood’s eyes met Donna’s and saw understanding and empathy for him, alongside the relief that her daughter was going to be fine.
“Thank you,” he choked out. He couldn’t have said anything else if his life depended on it.
“Stay here with Hollywood,” Jim requested of Karina. “We’ll be back, and then we’ll go find a hotel to crash in for the night.”
“Excuse me, sir?” a man said from behind them.
Everyone turned and faced the tall blond man who’d spoken.
“Yes?” Jim replied.
“My name is Conor Paxton. I’m a game warden with Texas Parks and Wildlife. I’m an acquaintance of Hollywood’s…and I wanted to extend my hospitality to you and your family. I’ve got a house not too far from here. You are more than welcome to stay there.”
“Oh, but…I don’t think we could. It’s not right,” Donna protested weakly.
“Please,” Conor encouraged. “I can take you there tonight, get you settled, and I’ll spend the night at my friend TJ’s house.” He motioned to the former Delta Force soldier standing nearby. “It’s not a palace, but I think you’d find it more comfortable than a hotel.”
Donna glanced at her husband, and he looked from the man standing in front of him, to the group of people sitting around the room, then back to his wife.
“We’d appreciate that, thank you,” Jim told Conor, then shook his hand.
“I’ll wait here while you visit with your daughter,” Conor told him. He nodded at the family and Hollywood then backed away, giving them space.
Jim reached out a hand to Hollywood, and it seemed as if everyone in the room held their breath. Slowly, Hollywood put his hand in the ol
der man’s and they shook.
“Thank you for finding my babies,” Jim said softly.
“I shouldn’t have let them get in that position in the first place,” Hollywood told him honestly.
Jim didn’t let go of his hand, and instead gripped it tighter. “Maybe. Maybe not. But what’s done is done. We can’t change the past, all we can do is go forward. But tell me one thing…”
“Anything,” Hollywood responded immediately, knowing Kassie’s dad was much more forgiving than he probably would be in the same situation.
“Am I going to have to worry about this happening again? Are those men done terrorizing my family?”
He opened his mouth to answer, but Fish got there first. He stepped up next to Hollywood and said firmly, “This, or anything remotely similar, will not happen again, sir. Your daughters are free to live their lives however they want, with whoever they want.”
Jim finally dropped Hollywood’s hand and narrowed his eyes at Fish. “Do I have your word on that?”
“Absolutely,” Fish said without hesitation. “Richard Jacks, Dean Jennings, and Blake Watson, and any of their friends, will not be an issue for your family from this day forward.”
“Good.” And that was that. As if Fish’s word was law, the stress in Jim’s face disappeared as if wiped away with an eraser. “Thank you for keeping us informed about what was going on and for driving us down here,” he told Fish. “We were worried sick. Knowing you and your friends were aware of what was happening, and even where our daughters were, made the entire experience…not good, but at least better. I’ve always respected the men and women who fight for our country. I’m glad to know Kassie’s ex was an exception rather than the norm.”
“Yes, sir,” Fish said. “There are assholes in every profession, including the US Armed Forces, but there’s no one you can trust more than the men and women here in this room.”
“If you’re ready?” the doctor said from the doorway. “We should go.”
Hollywood watched as Kassie’s parents followed after the doctor. One of the women came over and convinced Karina to sit down with her and her friends. Hollywood wasn’t sure who it was, but was just glad someone else was taking responsibility for her at the moment.
Rescuing Kassie: Delta Force Heroes, Book 5 Page 24
